New player--the potholed road to 1000 pts.

[Dictatortot]

I've recently taken up the game with a local club that usually plays at 1000 pts, and am busily painting a Blood Angels army.  In the course of acquisition I bought a large used Minotaurs army for a song, and am repainting them as well.  Between that & my own purchases, this has left me with a biggish force that could easily total a couple thousand points ... but maybe isn't exactly optimal for BA play.  The current roster is as follows:

 

HQ

• Mephiston
• Librarian w/force sword (1)
• Honour Guard (2)
• Chapter Master (1)*

 

Élites

• Chaplain w/power fist (1)
• Furioso Dreadnought (1)
• Terminator Assault Marine (14)
• Sternguard Veteran (2)
• Damned Legionnaire (2)*
• Ivanus Enkomi (Minotaurs)*

 

Troops

• Tactical Marines (50)
• Assault Marines (13)
• Death Company (5)
• Scouts w/sniper rifles (5)
• Sgt. Telion (1)*

 

Transport

• Rhino (2)
• Razorback (1)
• LR Redeemer (1)

 

Heavy Support

• Dreadnought (2)
• Devastator Marine (5)
• Vindicator (1)

*  not BA-legal, far as I can tell

 

It'd take some serious bit acquisition, but suppose I could convert some of the Tacticals to Assault.  What's troubling me, though, is whether despite all these units, I'm missing some very obvious and fundamental components of a BA army.  Should I invest in a few units not listed above?  Moreover: given the minatures above, is there any approved way of converting/repurposing them--and if so, would you recommend any?

 

Many thanks in advance!

[I am Legion]

Noooo! Keep the 50 tacticals and simply add 10 more! Then you'll have all the tacticals youll ever need! Add some Baal preds and a raven

[Dictatortot]

Obviously I'm a rank newcomer & have very limited experience, but I'd gathered that Tactical squads ... aren't useless exactly, but have more limited applications for BAs than for other armies.  Was I wrong about that?

 

In addition, hope I haven't posted this in an inappropriate place.  If there's somewhere else I should take this question, please advise, and many thanks!

[I am Legion]

Ask the mod to move it to the main thread.

 

But yeah tacticals don't have much place in a BA army right now, but my main list always includes at least one unit.

[Morticon]

This place is fine. Its for list stuff and general tactical stuff relating to the list.  No point havign two threads, although feedback here is a bit slow sometimes!

[Morticon]

tacticals aren't terrible, terrible but sadly just aren't cost effective for the BA at the moment and as a result dont see much play. 

Also 1000 points is a very tricky points level to start at. BA arent good at that level.

 

Consider,

 

A libby

5x DC in rhino

10man tactical squad in rhino

10 man jumpers

5man scouts

devs

vindy

[I am Legion]

Oops, thought I saw this in the army list side :P

[Memento Of Prospero]

If you don't know what to do with your tactical marines, you can convert some to sternguard, Death company or use them or devastator meat shields. If they are not start kit marines, you could easily convert them into Assault Marines as well. Not all is lost!

[Fulgens]

Welcome to the Blood Angels and to the hobby, Dictatortot! Starting a new army is an exciting time. Don't get too hung up on what the most cost effective units just yet. Make a list with the units that appeal to you. Now's the time to experiment with different play styles and various units to see what suits you. I suggest playing a few games before you start to paint anything. This way you can see which units you like on the battlefield, and then commit the hours and care to painting them.

 

Morticon's list gives you a good spread of the unit types that are available to the Blood Angels. He's right that 1000 point lists are hard for Blood Angels.

 

Blood Angels have a reputation as excelling in lightening-quick assaults. Indeed, we're good at that, but we need firepower to destroy transports and destroy anything that can beat us in close combat before our close combat troops can engage. In my experience, Blood Angels tend to do best when they have firepower that can maneuver to take out enemy units bearing down on your jump pack or transport-embarked infantry (i.e. Attack Bikes, Land Speeders, Vindicators, Predators, Storm Ravens). Alternatively, you can play more defensively, with a gun line backed up by hard-hitting assault units that counter-attack enemy advances. I happen to like Tactical marines because they can perform decently in both a defensive role with a heavy weapon, and offensive role if you give them a Rhino or Razorback.

[Jolemai]

HQ

• Chapter Master (1)*
• Captain

Élites

• Damned Legionnaire (2)*
• Death Company
• Ivanus Enkomi (Minotaurs)*
• Chaplain

Troops

• Sgt. Telion (1)*
• Scout Sergeant

*  not BA-legal, far as I can tell

 

It'd take some serious bit acquisition, but suppose I could convert some of the Tacticals to Assault.  What's troubling me, though, is whether despite all these units, I'm missing some very obvious and fundamental components of a BA army.  Should I invest in a few units not listed above?  Moreover: given the minatures above, is there any approved way of converting/repurposing them--and if so, would you recommend any?

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

 

I've put in red what your non-BA models could become should you choose to keep them. Alternatively, you could strip them and out them on Ebay.

 

As mentioned above, by all means move some of your Tacticals to fill out the Honour Guard, Sternguard and Death Company squads. The most obvious things missing from your collection are a Stormraven Gunship and a Sanguinary Priest (or any regular Apothecary model), and maybe a Baal Predator too. In the end though, it depends on how you want to play your army.

[Ushtarador]

You definitely should convert those tacticals to make the fun units, especially death company. Thanks to relentless they can still attack after firing their bolters, so that's usually the better option.

You definitely should invest into 1-2 death company boxes and a sanguinary guard box to get all the Blood Angels bitz you ever need, you will get awesome legs, chestpieces, nice power weapons, jump packs, regular backpacks and a huge number of shoulderpads to make your normal marines look more interesting

[Dictatortot]

Thanks very much for the ideas, everybody. I feel a little more certain now about experimenting and converting, and have a glimmer about what my army could look like. Serious food for thought ... though after bit & unit acquisition, it's an open question whether I'll have any other food to speak of!

[Rafen IX]

Question about the DC in the rhino.

Will they be bolter wielding? Because no assault when disembarking. No arguement about manuverability though.

[Dictatortot]

Question about the DC in the rhino.

Will they be bolter wielding? Because no assault when disembarking. No arguement about manuverability though.

Good question.  I'd assumed that DC would work better up close & personal, but don't have any experience to back that up.

 

And speaking of close combat, I'm wondering if Vanguard units would be preferable to Sternguard.  On the other hand, they might be tougher to convert and should be bought outright. Not sure if they're that desirable or not in the first place, though.

[Ushtarador]

Vanguard Veterans are actually easier to build, just take some DC and SG bitz and you're good ;) However, they are not as much fun to play anymore, they are really overpriced and overwatch+intercept has made them even worse :(